Tagged: “Dr. Robert Enright”

I heard a lecture by an advocate of forgiveness interventions in which he claimed that helping prisoners to forgive could help them.  Is this some kind of joke?  These people are in prison because of their harm to others.  Why should we then help them to forgive others after all the chaos they have caused?

We did a study with men in a maximum-security correctional institution, and about 90% of them suffered from serious injustices against them when they were young.  This is not at all to excuse their crimes because we all have many free-will options when we are very angry.  Yet, we hypothesized that if we can reduce their hatred, then they may be better citizens within the correctional institution, improve in their mental health, and possibly be more open to traditional rehabilitation approaches in the correctional system.  We did a randomized experimental and control group study with the experimental group going through a forgiveness intervention and the control group going through the hand-picked rehabilitation program from the institution. Results showed that those who had the forgiveness intervention went from clinical levels of anger, anxiety, and depression to normal levels.  The control group participants remained clinically angry, anxious, and depressed.  Yet, when these participants then had the six-month forgiveness program, they, too, reached normal levels of anger, anxiety, and depression.  Following the forgiveness intervention, some of the participants went to medium-security corrections because they were seen as less of a threat for violence.

Here is a reference to this work:

Yu, L., Gambaro, M., Song, J., Teslik, M., Song, M., Komoski, M.C., Wollner, B., & Enright, R.D.

(2021). Forgiveness therapy in a maximum-security correctional institution: A randomized clinical trial. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 28, 1457-1471.

It seems to me that forgiveness could work effectively when people are mildly hurt by others, but it would not work when there is deep trauma. Can you convince me that forgiveness actually is effective for trauma survivors?

We have many experimental and control group clinical trials with trauma survivors showing that they can forgive and with excellent mental health benefits.  As just one example, the study by Freedman and Enright (1996) with incest survivors showed that all 12 of the female victims of sexual abuse by a father or father figure led to a statistically significant reduction in psychological depression.  A follow-up study of six of these women, done approximately one year after the forgiveness intervention ended, showed that they still had normal levels of depression.

Here is the reference to that work:

Freedman, S. R., & Enright, R. D. (1996).  Forgiveness as an intervention goal with incest survivors.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 983-992.

Forgiving Infidelity Is Not Easy

Image by Monstera Production, Pexels.com

In another recent post (December 17, 2024) on infidelity within a committed relationship, this time on chafai (https://chatfai.com/notes/she-forgave-him-18uvta), Hilary hahn (the last name is not capitalized in the post) goes back and forth on the theme of forgiveness.  In her case, the emotional wounds still are very fresh because, in her words, “It’s been a few days since that incident…..”  She courageously states that she is in stunned disbelief.  Forgiving him “feels like an insurmountable task.”  Near the end of the post, she is hoping that in the future she “will look back on this moment as a turning point, a moment where compassion triumphed over hatred, and love conquered all.”  This is a very noble statement, given the freshness of her emotional wounds.

How did you come up with the Process Model of Forgiveness?

Our little group read case study descriptions of forgiveness and consulted with people who said they had forgiven.  We asked them for feedback on their forgiveness journeys. The Process Model underwent some revisions as we continued to talk with people and to work with some on their forgiveness.  Eventually, our final version of the Process Model of Forgiveness emerged, and we tested its validity through randomized experimental and control group research studies.

Because forgiveness is a moral virtue, it seems that we are obligated in families and societies to offer our forgiving whenever we are treated unjustly by others.  What do you think?

Philosophers make a distinction between obligatory moral virtues and those that are deemed as supererogatory, which are not required in societies.  As an example of an obligatory moral virtue, justice must be observed when driving a car.  If you decide to run a red light while driving your car, you could get a ticket because stopping under this condition is required.  In contrast, the moral virtue of altruism, or giving mercifully to others, is not required.  For example, suppose you are in a hurry to attend an important meeting and you pass by a person without a home who asks for money.  You don’t have your wallet and you have to hurry.  Your not giving the funds will not get you a ticket because the giving is optional in all societies that I know.  Forgiveness is similar.  If you are very angry about an injustice that just happened, you may not be ready to forgive.  You will not get a ticket for this because forgiveness is your choice to offer when you are ready.